..have recently learned that the fingers must move at the joint where the fingers meet the hand, not where I've been moving from, at the next joint on fingers or at both joints.

Is there a cure for this deeply ingrained habit? Other than persevering with conscious effort to break it (gonna slow me down significantly).

There must be some great advantage to it but I can't determine what it is.

i suggest you buy or download if there is out there the "effortless guitar" video from William Kanengiser member of Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
He explains very well how the fingers must move and how to train them

__________________"Look in my eyes; can't you see the core is frozen? You can't ask me to access the dreams I don't have now...
Sadly for us, our little talk is over...so, together we'll endure the tyranny of the disallowed..."

This movement from the first knuckle reminds of the normal way one is taught to play the piano. The starting and stopping locations may be different, but it seems very natural to me (after many years of piano playing). Maybe a little cross-training on the piano would help.

efficiency and ergonomics are also important for playing long term without injury. i can't see why a natural ergonomic movement isn't to be preferred.

Hi all...

I think I confused Jack's original post to mean the finger was being flexed at the first knuckle, and was eliminating the motion of the finger from the middle joint toward the palm.

By all methods discussed in this post the tip of the finger is still drawn toward the palm, and the emphasis on the knuckle (versus finger joint) is a bit mute as one cannot draw the finger tip over a string without that knuckle being involved (unless you are clawing the strings).

I'd say the videos I posted all four of the players had fairly ergonomic approaches, and fit the descriptions listed in mc1's diagrams...

As a fingerstyle teacher, I'm left wondering what technique Jackknifegypsy is listing as 'wrong'. I guess I'd love to see an example of it.

The knuckles at the base of the fingers may be referred to as the 1st or major knuckles while the knuckles at the midfinger are known as the 2nd and 3rd, or minor, knuckles.

I am not even sure we are all talking about the same thing when we say "knuckle" vs. "finger joint". When I said "first knuckle", I meant the joint where the finger meets the back of the hand. In the picture below, that's the "MCP" joint. Which do you mean when you say knuckle and middle joint?